Paul Westphal - Men's Basketball Coach - Grand Canyon University Athletics

Paul Westphal

Title:
Head Coach

Year	School	Record
1986-87	GCU	26-12
1987-88	GCU	37-6
GCU career	(2 seasons)	63-18

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Paul Westphal spent two years as the head coach at Grand Canyon, holding the highest winning percentage in program history and helping lead the Lopes to the 1988 NAIA National Championship.

The former NBA standout was the seventh head coach at Grand Canyon.

One question that may always be asked in basketball circles is this: "Just because you were a great player, does that mean you can be a great coach?" Well Paul Westphal certainly fits the "great player" tag. He spent 12 seasons in the NBA, four of them as an All-Pro. And as far as the "great coach" tag? Well, Wesphal certainly put a notch in his belt last season in guiding Canyon to a 26-12 record and came within a game of advancing to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri.

Wesphal said he, "didn't know what to expect" when he came to Grand Canyon during the summer of 1986. But he soon was encouraged by his team's performance and commented that, "We did surprisingly well considering the situation." The situation was one in which Westphal entered the coaching picture following the end of recruiting, and then had several of his top players unable to play. The Lopes were certainly able tto make the best of a potentially disastrous situation.

While his playing career is well known, you have to start coaching somewhere. Westphal did just that when he was named the head coach at Phoenix's Southwestern College. A small Bible college that had won only three of 23 games the previous year, Westphal turned the program around. Equipped with a 6-foot-2 center, he guided the team through the Western Christian Athletic Association Tournament and earned a berth in the National Little College Athletic Association Tournament in Bristol, Tennessee. "Westy's Wonders", as they were called, finished with a 21-9 record.

Some impressive playing credentials can be listed for the Grand Canyon coach. Paul Westphal had an outstanding prep career at Aviation High School in Redondo Beach, California. From there, he went on to star in the then Pac-8 Conference for USC. He was a three-time All Pac-8 selection and two-time NCAA All-American. Also while playing at the collegiate level, Westphal played on the Olympic development team (1970) and for the U.S. Pan American team (1971). From there, Westphal was selected in the first round of the 1972 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics.

Westphal's NBA career spanned 12 years and four teams. He was a member of the 1973-74 NBA Champion Celtics. After three seasons in Boston, he played six seasons with the Phoenix Suns, one season in Seattle and two with the New York Knicks. In all, Westphal appeared in five NBA All-Star games (averaging 20 points per All-Star outing), was a four-time All-Pro selection, won the 1982-83 NBA Comeback Player of the Year Award with the Knicks, and even won the NBA H*O*R*S*E competition. During his time in the NBA, Westphal served as Vice President of the NBA Players' Association.